英語聽書《白鯨記》第725期

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Chapter 83 Jonah Historically Regarded

第八十三章 從歷史上看約拿

Reference was made to the historical story of Jonah and the whale in the preceding chapter. Now some Nantucketers rather distrust this historical story of Jonah and the whale. But then there were some sceptical Greeks and Romans, who, standing out from the orthodox pagans of their times, equally doubted the story of Hercules and the whale, and Arion and the dolphin; and yet their doubting those traditions did not make those traditions one whit the less facts, for all that.

關于約拿和大鯨的史實，前一章已經(jīng)提到了。現(xiàn)在有些南塔開特人還是不大相信約拿和大鯨的這番史實。不過，還有一些持懷疑論的希臘人和羅馬人，他們堅持他們當時那種傳統(tǒng)的邪端異說，對海格立斯與大鯨，對阿賴翁（阿賴翁——公元前七百年左右的希臘詩人及音樂家，傳說他由西西里的一個音樂競賽會中得勝回家時，途中被船人投入河中，后來為集結于船旁聽其奏樂的海豚救到丹那拉斯去。）與海豚的傳說同樣表示堅決懷疑；可是，盡管如此，他們之懷疑這些傳說，絲毫沒有使這些傳說不能成為事實。

One old Sag-Harbor whaleman's chief reason for questioning the Hebrew story was this:—He had one of those quaint old-fashioned Bibles, embellished with curious, unscientific plates; one of which represented Jonah's whale with two spouts in his head—a peculiarity only true with respect to a species of the Leviathan (the Right Whale, and the varieties of that order), concerning which the fishermen have this saying, "A penny roll would choke him"; his swallow is so very small. But, to this, Bishop Jebb's anticipative answer is ready. It is not necessary, hints the Bishop, that we consider Jonah as tombed in the whale's belly, but as temporarily lodged in some part of his mouth. And this seems reasonable enough in the good Bishop.

有一個薩格港的老捕鯨人，他駁斥這個希伯來故事的主要理由是這樣的：他有一本古色古香的《圣經(jīng)》，里面有好些希奇古怪、缺乏科學根據(jù)的插圖，其中，有一幅畫著約拿那條大鯨，頭上長有兩個噴水孔——就大鯨（露脊鯨和各類鯨）的種類說來，所顯現(xiàn)的特點是再正確也沒有的了，關于這一種鯨，捕魚人向來有這種說法："一個一分錢的饅頭也會把它哽死；"說明它的食道很小。但是，在這一點上，哲布（約翰·哲布（1775—1833）——英國神學家。）主教早就有現(xiàn)成的預示式的答案。這個主教說，我們不必認為約拿是葬身于鯨腹中，他不過是暫時呆在鯨嘴的什么地方而已。這個善良的主教所說的話，看來倒是頗為合理。